Hershey vows to increase ad spending by 20% this yearHershey says it will raise its advertising spending 20% this year, which will build on last year's 16% increase in spending. Part of the additional budget will go into marketing the chocolate-covered food products brand Brookside Foods, which Hershey agreed to buy in 2011. Hershey is in the midst of a media-agency review in which incumbent OMD is participating. The company spent $463 million in 2011, according to the Ad Age DataCenter. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model)
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7 Strategies to Improve Content MarketingMedia and publishing companies are facing serious headwinds as a result of dramatic demographic and technological disruption. Yet, many - both legacy and digital natives - are monetizing existing capabilities and developing new offerings to expand their audiences and grow revenue. Download our whitepaper to learn how to gain your competitive edge.

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Company News

Bank of America to roll out image-repair campaignBank of America in April will launch a campaign focused on restoring its reputation, which was battered by its need for federal assistance during the financial crisis. The bank will likely change its tagline, currently "Bank of Opportunity," though the new slogan hasn't been disclosed. "Coming out of the financial crisis, we were confronted with a serious set of challenges. We have fundamentally reshaped who we are," says Anne Finucane, head of global strategy and marketing. The Wall Street Journal
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Kraft spotlights the naturalness of Philadelphia Cream CheeseA new ad campaign for Kraft's Philadelphia Cream Cheese by McGarryBowen focuses on the quality of the ingredients and purity of the process. The tagline: "When it comes to taste, Philadelphia sets the standard." Christopher Urban, senior brand manager, says the company is responding to consumers' need for more transparency about processes and suspicions of heavily processed foods. The push will include 20 weeks of television ads this year, as well as print and social media. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily
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Old Spice bows "Wild" characters for new scent lineOld Spice has created another series of mysterious men as part of an ad campaign for its new Wild Collection. A spot from Wieden+Kennedy's Portland, Ore., office, features a wolflike character in a tuxedo and the tagline "Introducing Wolfthorn. Answer the smell of the wild." Similar characters have been created for the two other scents in the collection, Hawkridge and Foxcrest, and the campaign is aimed at men "who want to be viewed as manly, seductive and maybe a little intimidating," says Jason Partin, Old Spice's brand manager for North America. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)
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Market Trends

Are targeted TV media buys finally ready for prime time?Simulmedia and Invidi Technologies are among the companies working on bringing targeted television media buys into the mainstream. Simulmedia's ad network allows for buys across shows in a scattered market, while Invidi Technologies is working on targeting that's based on behavioral data such as demographics, location and viewing habits. "I've always just jokingly wondered when that line of people was going to form in front of our door wanting to put in this great technology, and 10 years and thousands of business calls later, it's happening," says Invidi CEO Dave Downey. The Wall Street Journal/Venture Capital Dispatch blog
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Brazil shop scores World Cup 2014 assignment from McDonald'sSao Paulo-based Taterka Comunicacoes has won McDonald's global creative assignment for the World Cup soccer competition in 2014. The agency already represents McDonald's in 18 Latin American countries and pitched against other McDonald's shops, including Leo Burnett. Taterka has been charged with creating a unifying theme that will guide advertising during the World Cup, regardless of country or language. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model)
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People & Personalities

Director details Taco Bell's partying seniors spotBiscuit Filmworks' Noam Murro is the man behind the "Viva Young" Super Bowl ad for Taco Bell, which shows an elderly crowd sneaking out of a retirement home to cause trouble, get tattoos, go dancing and finish the night with some tacos. "There was no humor injected here. There was authenticity injected, and hopefully the one thing that changes here is the chromosome of age. If you substitute this with kids, you'd just have a cool piece," Murro says in this interview. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model)
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AAF Spotlight

Mosaic Career FairsThe objective of the Mosaic Career Fairs is the same as the Most Promising Program -- to connect top minority talent with leading advertising/marketing and communications companies that are seeking to hire entry-level candidates. Minorities are encouraged to participate; however, this career fair is open to everyone! Mosaic Career Fairs are free for AAF College Chapter members. The 2013 Mosaic Career Fairs will be held on Feb. 6 in New York and on Feb. 21 in Chicago. Read more details.

Feds seek to halt merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev, ModeloThe U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit that seeks to stop Anheuser-Busch InBev from buying Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, maker of Corona, claiming that it would create a monopoly that would drive up the cost of beer. Modelo is "an important competitive force in the beer industry" -- one that should not be eliminated, said Bill Baer, head of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. Anheuser-Busch InBev responded by calling the suit "inconsistent with the law, the facts and the reality of the market place," but the company acknowledged that it won't be able to close the deal this quarter as planned. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model)
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SmartQuote

There is no way for the American economic system to function without advertising. There is no other way to communicate enough information about enough products to enough people with enough speed."